Something Particular
by JoCriss
Summary: That first day on set, Dianna wasn't aware that the guy that just entered the room was going to change her life forever.   Prequel to Just Us, Crissagron/Diarren fic
1. Something Particular

She did not like waiting. As soon as she came in to table reading with the cast Jenna had told her that they had to wait for the new guy. _"Daniel or something"_ she had told her. She sighed and sat down on her chair, put in her earphones and put some music while she took a first look at her script. _I do not know who this new guy is, but I don't like him already, _she thought to herself. She stood up and poured herself some coffee: one sugar and one cream, and sat back down. _"Hey guys" _she heard Ian say "_this is the new addition to our Glee family. Say hello to Darren." _Everyone greeted him gladly but Dianna was too busy texting Alex she just said _"Hey"_ and waved her hand at him. _We can finally start, _she thought to herself, placing her iPhone on her purse and sitting up.

It was a very slow day because she didn't need to do that many scenes. Once Dianna was done she asked to take the rest of the day to _study her script further_, but she had planned to spend the day with her boyfriend at her house. Lea wasn't going to be home any time soon, so they had enough space for themselves. She changed into her street clothes and headed out. She felt her phone vibrate on her purse and saw a text "_Can't make it. Stuck in set. Sorry love. A."_ She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and huffed in annoyance. It has been 5 weeks since she's seen him and it was frustrating that his busy schedule was in the way.

"_Uh, I don't mean to pry, but are you ok?"_ She turned to her left and saw a brown haired boy in a blue blazer with pink glasses on top of his head and a guitar on his lap. "_Yeah, sure, everything's fine…_" she paused for a second; trying to remember his name when he interrupted her thoughts "_I'm Darren, Darren Criss." "Oh right. Sorry. It's been a long day. I'm…" _he interrupted her again, as he stood up, placed his guitar carefully next to the chair he sat on. "_Dianna. Agron. I know who you are. Nice to meet you"_ he was right in front of her, his right hand prompted up to greet her. She took his hand and he shook it slightly. Now that she had him that closed he noticed his eyes were hazel, just a little touch of gold. _And he smells nice, like coffee and something I can't place, _she thought to herself, snapping back up to reality. She let go of his grip and said "_Well, I need to go. Nice to meet you Darren"_ and gave him the warmest smile she could. She walked up to the door out of the soundstage and put her glasses on. She stood there for a second and looked back at this Darren guy. He had his back placed firmly against the wall and was playing the guitar, she couldn't hear clearly what he was singing but she knew it had to be important to him, since he had his eyes closed in concentration. She turned around and headed to her car, still trying to figure out what that other smell was.


	2. I've Just Seen a Face

He met her just a couple of days ago and he can't get her out of his mind. It wasn't the best time to approach her because she seemed upset, but he was just being nice, as usual. And when he got close that time he was dumbstruck. He remembered that time in 5th grade when they were playing dodge ball, he had caught a ball right in the middle of his chest and it drew air out of him. It felt just like that. Her blue eyes, long blonde hair and her skin, so soft against his touch.

He laid on his bed looking at the ceiling, humming a tune he had never hummed before "_I need to write this down before I forget it"_ he told himself. It was the first time that he had reacted this way. There have been other girls before, but no one had made him feel like he does right now. _"It's the second time you've seen her in your life Darren, get a fucking grip!"_ he tried to get himself out of the Dianna induced haze. He stood up and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, then took off his shirt and since he was too tired he just decided to take of his shirt and sleep on his jeans. Shooting for the first time was a very hard thing to get used to and adding Dianna to this was just too much. He closed his eyes and quickly went to sleep. 

He came into set the next day very bright and early. He had brought his guitar along because he wanted to remember what he was humming last night, but he could not come up with anything. He was already changed in his Blaine wardrobe and was sitting near the makeup station waiting for his turn. He had his guitar on his lap and started to strum some of the strings trying to remember that melody he had last night. After 5 minutes of playing random notes he realized he was playing an acoustic version of Teenage Dream, which was not what he was looking for. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on what he was doing last night. And he started to play, his fingers acting freely over the strings to a melody he had not heard of. It suddenly came to him, and this might be cheesy, but it was like a song his heart was playing. A smell hit him out of nowhere, like candy. Strawberries and cream, it was very close to him and it was odd, the craft services table was far in the other side of the lot.

"_Someone is really focused on his role, isn't he" _he heard a girl say "_Ah, well, let's just let him be Naya. And, whatever he is playing, sounds beautiful"_ another girl said, but he knew who that was and opened his eyes at the same time he stopped playing. He saw two sitting in the makeup chairs; Naya was already done and was checking her makeup on the mirror. Next to her, closest to where Darren was sitting was _her._ Dianna was tying a black bandana to her head and, well, maybe this part he imagined it, he looked back at him and smiled. She stood up and checked herself in the mirror before leaving. Darren almost dropped his guitar on the floor when he saw her full image. He knew they were going to do a Bon Jovi/Rolling Stones mash up but he never imagined _this_ is was what they were going to wear. She had a black shirt and a leather jacket on. And leather pants that hugged her legs in all the right ways.

"_Darren! YO DARREN! Earth to hobbit!"_ Kevin was standing in front of him, waving his hand and snapping his fingers to get him back to reality. Darren shook his head and laughed. "_Ah, hey. Sorry, I was just… "_He started to explain, _"That's ok man. The girls look awesome today, just, don't get any ideas about Dianna"_ Kevin replied. _"Wait, who me? Dianna. No, man, I was…"_ Darren stammered. "_Well, whatever you were staring at is already dating someone so, don't get your hopes up"_ Kevin said as he sat in the makeup chair. Darren stood up and sat next to him, placing the guitar close by. All he could do was laugh, trying to break the tension. But he was just a little bummed out about what he learned just now. But no matter what, he'd admire her presence and finish writing that goddamn song that had already left. She'll be his muse, no matter what _or who_ was in his way. 


	3. Letting Go

She shut her phone off and threw it to her bed in frustration. When the phone actually ended up landing on the floor with a thud all she could think was "_fuck! Now this? Come on!"_ She had just finished talking with Alex and broke up with him. She couldn't take the long distance relationship, with him being in location in London and her filming in Los Angeles. She missed him too much and it seemed he did not make an effort in this relationship; she already had enough of him cancelling on her, just like he did a month ago. It was going to be hard, she was sure of that, but the good side is she had work to focus on. She sat on the floor, sitting next to her broken phone and couldn't help but start crying.

Lea came to her room as soon as she heard her. She was dressed up to head out but Dianna's sudden crying stopped her from leaving. She kneeled next to her and gave her a hug. "_Sweetie, are you ok?_" Lea said as she strokes the blonde's hair. "_I can stay in and we can rent a movie and…"_ Dianna looked up with red puffy eyes and interrupted her best friend "_No. That's ok. You have plans, don't need to cancel them on me"_ she said in between slight sobs, trying to gain composure. _"No need. You know what,"_ Lea said as she stood up and picked up something from her purse. It was her phone. She started to type a text message. "_What you need is to relax, forget about what happened. I just told Chris to tell everyone that we're having a party," _Lea said as she put her phone back, went to Dianna's bed side table and grabbed a tissue and kneeled next to Dianna again, giving it to her. "_Come on sweetie. Dress up all pretty and have fun" _she hugged her again "_God knows how much you need it."_ Lea stood up and gave Dianna her hand. She grabbed it and stood up, cleaning her tear stricken face from any trace. "_Ok. I'll go shower,"_ she replied to her friend "_you should get cleaning on the kitchen, it's a mess."_ Lea laughed and gave her another quick hug. The brunette headed out of the room and Dianna went to her wardrobe and scanned what she should be wearing. 

He was lying down on the couch with the TV on, mostly playing background to him since he was strumming his guitar again. He already managed to get half of that mystery tune solved in his head. He heard the clear sound of his phone vibrating on top of the coffee table next to him. He rested his guitar next to him and picked it up. A text from Chris: _Party at Lea and Di's. 9pm._ He read it a couple of times and looked up at the clock hanging from his wall over the TV: _8:10pm._ Darren had not been invited to a party with the Glee cast; sure, he had gone out for beers with Kevin and Harry, but not with the whole New Directions guys. _Dianna will be there you fool, why are you still standing here?_ His mind told him. He shook his head at this thought and put his phone down on the table, not caring to answer. He took Kevin's advice and disregarded any kind of thought about Dianna, whether it was loving or lustful. He had forgotten about ever approaching her and decided to go on casual dates the Dalton guys set him out on.

He looked at the clock again: _8:54pm. _He already made up his mind and decided not to go. He was already set in going to bed and had put on his old Michigan shirt and sweatpants and sat on his couch again. He turned the TV back on and started surfing for a moment. He heard his phone again. He picked it up; it was a message from Kevin now: _"Dude are you coming? I have a six pack with your name on it!"_ he read. He started to write "_Gonna stay in tonight. Thanks anyways"_ and pressed send. He was about to put his phone back on the table when it started vibrating again: "_Come on! You haven't gone to a proper party. Besides, your girrrlfriendd is going to be there" _Kevin replied, already imagining the childish tone he said _girlfriend_ in. Before he could reply he got a third text "_From what I have heard, she is single now. It's your chance, lover boy."_ Darren quickly replied "_I'm not that type of guy, you know. But thanks for the advice."_ He set his phone back on the table now, but could not help thinking that Dianna had already broken up with that guy. He thought about going, but he was not going to take advantage of the moment. _Well, she does need a friend after all,_ his mind thought again. He shook off the thought again and went to the kitchen to grab some water. He opened the fridge and got the bottle. He uncapped it and took a sip, but he could not help that his mind wandered off to Dianna. She would be feeling incredibly upset and probably needed some cheering up to do. _Besides, it's not like she is going to go for me, she just broke up with the guy, _he thought. He went back to his living room and texted Kevin back: "_Send me the address, be there in 10."_ He shut off his phone and went to his room, looking for something proper to wear.

It was about 9:30pm when he arrived at the girl's apartment. He decided to go casual and put on a navy blue button up shirt and jeans. He knocked on the door and had Lea greet him with a big smile on her face. She shuffled him in quickly since the party was already way under way apparently. Darren quickly noticed Kevin and went to say hi to him. He opened up the beer Kevin gave him and started to take a few sips while he nodded to whatever Jenna was saying. He was eyeing the whole room in search for Dianna but was not able to see her. He turned his face down to look at his hands holding the beer, for some reason he started to feel guilty for ever coming. But he wasn't here to make a move on her; he wanted her to know she can always count on him. He sighed and went back to the conversation this side of the party had.

All night she had been feeling incredibly uncomfortable around everyone. Sure, Lea did say she needed to forget about what had happened but the moment when every girl greeted her with an "_Its ok sweetie, he was not worth it"_ and every guy said _"Just say the words and I'll kick his ass,"_ she would cringe. And every time this happened she decided to take a sip of her white wine glass, quickly winding down and now turning into the 4th glass of the night. She decided to sit down outside, just near the living room but down on some stairs that leaded to the beach. She was sinking her toes in the sand, the feeling making her slightly better.

"_Hey there stranger!"_ someone said behind her. She turned around and saw Darren. He stood behind her but close enough not to make her feel uncomfortable. She said hey back and turned back to staring at the ocean and taking another sip of wine: _Might as well, he'll probably say something about Alex and me. _She sighed at the thought. She heard some steps and thought he had returned inside but she felt him sit next to her. He sat very close and felt a tingle when his skin _touched hers slightly. _He looked up at her at the same time she felt this and their eyes met for a second. He looked away and chuckled to himself. And for the first time tonight, she genuinely smiled as well.

"_It's a nice night to be out here" _Darren said as he pointed at the starry sky. _Shit, what's with the trivial conversation? _He thought to himself, hitting his head with his palm in frustration. He was trying to choose the conversation slightly, trying to not make her uncomfortable. He saw her nod her head and said "_yes"_ to him. She took another sip of wine. He could not help looking at her, without that fancy Quinn makeup and costume every day, she looked breathtaking. She had her hair pulled back in a braid, several strands tucked back behind her ear. She noticed he was staring at her and raised an eyebrow when this happened. He laughed uncomfortably and took a large sip of his beer. "_Knock knock"_ Darren said, she looked back at him surprised and decided to go with it "_Who's there?_" "_Aardvark" _he said, thinking how stupid could he be right now. _"Ah, ok. Aardvark who?"_ she replied, seriously curious about the punch line of the joke. "_Aardvark a hundred miles for one of your smiles!"_ he ended. He really regretted telling this joke now thinking: _shit, she probably thinks I'm nuts now._ But she laughed, genuinely laughed at the joke. He joined her, realizing how bad the joke was. And slowly he quieted down, just to enjoy the sound of her laugh for a while. She looked at him and said _"Well, you have been the only one that has not mentioned anything about. You know,"_ she looked down at her feet and Darren replied "_We've all been in this situation one way or the other. And what we need is to get our minds of it, so, I tried my best there,"_ he chuckled. She joined his laugh and placed her hand on his knee and looked at his eyes and said _"Just what I needed. Thanks so much Darren."_ He put his left arm around her shoulders and held her for a couple of minutes, just being a friend. But those seconds he couldn't help but smell her hair. _Strawberries and cream. _


	4. The Morning After

Dianna woke up with a sudden ringing in her head. It was probably around 10am because she could feel the sunlight heat her already warm face. It was a good thing it was Saturday and she had the day off, so she decided to turn her back to the sun and face the other side of her queen sized bed. That's when she realized she wasn't alone. She saw a broad back and black curly messy hair lying next to her. "_Oh shit! What did I do?"_ she mouthed, trying not to wake Darren up. She turned around again and got off the bed as slowly as she could, trying not to make any sound. Dianna decided to head to the bathroom and try to recap whatever happened last night; while walking there she noticed clothes thrown around her bed carelessly and again mouthed "_Oh no, we…"_ She silently went to her closet and got some shorts and a tank top and headed into her bathroom. Just before going in she hit her big toe on what it seemed, was a man's shoe. "_Fuck!"_ she reacted, when she realized she yelled she covered her mouth and looked back at the bed, saw him toss around and ran quickly inside her bathroom and locked the door.

Darren pressed his head against the pillow, smelling a familiar yet not common smell for his bed. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus on the room and bed he was in, because it certainly wasn't his. He could see a dresser next to the, what he guessed, was the bathroom door and on that dresser was a familiar face. He sat up, suddenly being attacked by a hangover and awkwardly noticing he was naked in a bed he did not recognize. He sat near the edge of the bed and looked at the picture in the dresser: Dianna and Naya on their Cheerio outfits. After he made the connection, his mouth flew open. He was on Dianna's bed. And from what was clearly obvious, something had happened between them. He looked around trying to look for her but he noticed the shower running. For a second there, with all that had come about, he wished he was there with her, but he thought twice: _She probably has a hangover too, I shouldn't. I… I should go before she comes out._ He jumped from the bed and picked up his boxer briefs and jeans and put them back on quickly. He saw his shoes and socks, wanted to put them on but decided he didn't have that much time, so he just grabbed them and his shirt. He felt through the pockets of his jeans for his keys and his phone, happily noticing they were there and walked slowly out of the bedroom. "_Well, I can't say I'm not surprised to see you still here Mr._" he heard someone say as he headed for the front door. Lea was sitting in a chair in her living room, casually reading a book and sipping her cup of coffee. Darren blushed, realizing he was doing the awkward walk of shame. He smiled shyly and said "_Oh, yeah. Umm, gotta go. Bye Lea!"_ and headed out the door and before closing it heard Lea say "_So, no coffee for you?"_

She got out of the shower, dried herself with a towel and put on what she had taken. She was going back to her bedroom, dreading what she was about to face. She placed her hand on the doorknob, taking deep breaths and thinking about what she was going to say to Darren now. She opened the door carefully, but he was not on her bed. She noticed that what only laid on the floor was the clothes she was wearing last night. She scratched her head in wonderment and looked out the patio and noticed he wasn't there either. For some reason, she dreaded to talk to him but something deep inside her wanted to see him again.

Reluctantly she decided to head to the kitchen for some coffee, the annoying headache starting to hit her suddenly. She entered the living room and saw Lea sitting on her usual armchair reading. She headed straight to the kitchen just next to where Lea was and took a mug to get herself a drink "_I already poured you some, right there on the counter,"_ her brunette friend yelled without taking her eyes from her book. She put back the mug in the shelf and turned to the counter and saw two steaming cups of coffee. "_One was for lover boy but he bolted like 10 minutes ago,"_ Lea said, now taking a sip from her own cup. "_Way to bounce back from the dead Di. I never thought you were into pocket sized guys,"_ Lea giggled, looking back at her best friend. "_Don't. Don't start Lea"_ Dianna said as she grabbed her cup and took a sip. She sat on the couch in front of Lea and enjoyed the effect of her coffee over her wine induced hangover. She stared at her friend, trying to come up with an excuse for what happened last night but all she could come up with was: "_I was drunk. This didn't mean"_ the tiny brunette interrupted her "_That's ok sweetie. You don't need to explain anything to me. Darren is the only one you need to talk to next."_ They both took a sip of their coffee, nothing to be said but the necessary: what happens now?

Darren opened the door to his apartment, shirt and shoes already on, and headed to his room. He noticed a yellow post it on his bedroom door, he peeled it off and read _"I don't know what or who you did last night, but I hope you had fun. Be back after 2pm with lunch. Joey."_ He thought it was a good thing his best friend wasn't there; he didn't want to explain anything to him when he didn't know himself what happened. While he was driving back, he tried to remember something but last thing he could clearly recall was him and Dianna talking on the beach. He headed to his bathroom, opened up the medicine cabinet and took two aspirins from a bottle and swallowed them both. He took a quick shower and put on some sweats he found on his bed. He went to pick up his phone, which he left in the bathroom counter and noticed how bad he looked, like he might have been ran over by a truck or something. Just as he headed back to his room he noticed a bruise on the back of his neck and went back to the mirror and checked it out, it was small but when he touched that bruise it stung a bit. He suddenly got a flash back of Dianna's bed: he was sitting down and saw the blonde girl sitting on top of him, kissing his neck and unbuttoning his shirt slowly. He was brought back to his bathroom when he heard his phone ring, he was panting from the thought. Darren picked up his phone and saw a text from Joey, sighing in relief. He headed back to his room and threw himself in his bed, trying to forget the banging on his head. He closed his eyes but all he could see was the both of them kissing passionately. 


	5. Which Way To Go

This had been the first time she ever dreaded going to set on a Monday. She could only think about what to say to him; she sat on her living room for hours this weekend trying to text him or waiting for him to text her back. She also planned the exact words she was going to say, mouthing it even on her drive up to the studio: "_We shouldn't have done this. I was brokenhearted and we were drunk. It was a mistake."_ She had all the determination she could come up with to let him down easy; _he probably thinks the same thing, he'll be alright with it, _she thought as she walked into set. She had her face down, walking straight to wardrobe and getting her usual Quinn Fabray outfit. She got ready and went to makeup, always watching out for him. She sat on her chair and had her phone on her lap, checking it every few minutes for a sign of Darren; she also tried to take a peek from the mirror in front of her to get a glimpse of a blue blazer. She sighed and just let go of the whole deal and decided to talk to him later. She got off from the chair, put her phone down and went straight to shoot some scenes.

It was already midday and she decided to take a break on her trailer. She was going to lie down and take a quick nap, first setting up an alarm on her phone and putting her headphones and closing her eyes. She selected a random song on her playlist and dozed off. She started to have the same dream she had last night: Darren and her laughing, sitting on the bed, when he kissed her, very softly, considering their inebriated state. He had cradled her face close to him and after a few seconds she responded back, not caring what happened because, for some reason, it had felt right. She then sat on his lap and started to kiss him back passionately and grabbing a hold of his hair with both hands, feeling his starting to rub her back from under her shirt, pulling her as close as he could.

She heard several knocks on her door, bringing her back to reality and realized that the knock on the door was made by someone already inside her trailer: Darren. He wasn't on his Blaine getup yet and he kept repeating something to her that she couldn't hear: _smart, I still have my headphones on_; she thought and took them off. "_Are, are you ok? You seem flustered or something?"_ he said, looking straight into her eyes. "_Uh, yeah, I'm ok_" she answered as she stood up and put her phone on the table "_I was meaning to talk to you about_"he interrupted her sentence "_about last weekend? Yes. I wanted to talk to you too"_ he said; she could tell he was nervous since he had both hands in each of his jeans pockets, like trying to grab on to something and, might be because of the weather, she could see a glistening drop of sweat falling down his neck. She could not stop looking at his neck. Then, she came back to herself and said "_What happened shouldn't have happened Darren. I just had broken up with Alex and I was vulnerable and we were drunk and. We shouldn't have."_ He took a step closer to her and stood very close, for some reason Dianna was starting to feel warm being so close to him, making her reminisce about the dream she was in just several minutes ago. He could feel the heat growing in the room and took a step back, trying not to make her uncomfortable and she sat down on her couch. "_I know Dianna, its fine. I just"_ he started to hesitate and stared at his feet; he took a deep breath and looked intently at her eyes and spoke again "_You can't deny there is something. I have been trying to figure this out all weekend and I"_ he started to pace around the trailer trying to get his point straight "_I can't stop thinking about what happened. It was"_ he sighed "_incredible, Di, amazing."_ She was blown away by this response but she was completely taken aback by it as well; she had thought about what that happened: how his hands carefully made their way up her legs, the way he kissed her neck, how she felt so comfortable in his arms; but somehow, she felt it was wrong. She stood up and grabbed his hand to stop him from pacing "_Darren, please. Stop"_ she held him strongly and he stopped in his tracks looking down at her hand on his and then back to his eyes. "_This was, just too fast, I've known you for weeks now. It shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake. We just slept together, it doesn't mean anything" _she said to him, taking her hand away from his, suddenly feeling strange, like she shouldn't let go at all, but she suppressed this thought. He looked at her, a grin forming on his face but he looked straight at her and realized she wasn't joking, she wasn't feeling it. He had to give it one more try and stood mere inches from her and, without saying a word, he kissed her softly, just like the first kiss they had. He could feel the world fading away, just having her beautiful self to him and no one alone. A few seconds then a loud ring interrupted the moment, making Dianna jump back, clearly startled and said "_No Darren. It's, it's not right, just. Leave me alone. Don't. Don't try to do this again."_ He took a step back towards the door, feeling the world sinking down his feet. The room was completely silent now, the tension being palpable. Dianna was staring down at the floor, daring not to make another mistake. He called her name softly but she didn't look back up. He opened the door of the trailer and closed it, Dianna never taking her gaze from the floor.

Darren walked angrily to the set, trying to let go of what happened with Dianna just now: _She doesn't know it now, but she's making a big mistake. _


	6. One Door Closes

_**ONE DOOR CLOSES…**_

He hadn't been able to smile in a while due to the Dianna debacle almost two weeks ago. It's a good thing he didn't need to shoot anything for a week. He could not stand the sight of _her,_ looking all bubbly and gorgeous as she always had, knowing he can't have her.

Darren had not left his room in a day and this made Joey, his best friend and roommate, incredibly anxious. He knocked on Darren's door but didn't get a reply, which was not a surprise, since he tried to do this every two hours just to check if he was still alive. He tried knocking once more but got nothing; he chose to try and go into his room and turned the door knob, to his surprise, it was actually open. He stepped in carefully, like trying to go into a lion's den, and saw his best friend sitting on the bed: eyes closed, with big headphones on and strumming his guitar to a beat he never heard before. "_Hey buddy, how about joining humanity for a change"_ Joey said as he sat on Darren's bed and he opened his eyes when he felt the sudden movement. He took his headphones off and placed them on his neck, not letting go of his guitar and gave Joey a stern look. "_Thanks, but not in the mood"_ Darren replied, putting his headphones on but Joey came forward and stopped him from doing so. "_Dude, you are seriously worrying me, I've never seen you act this way before, not during school or after"_ Joey said "_you need to stop pinning on this girl. You've only been together once and..." _Darren interrupted "_DON'T YOU DARE GIVE ME THAT FUCKING EXCUSE"_ he stood up from his bed, put his guitar next to the wall and looked back at his concerned friend. "_This, Dianna and me, isn't just a _one night stand_"_ he kneeled in front of Joey and continued "_have you ever felt light headed when you are with that girl? Or felt a sudden shock of electricity when you touch her skin? And when you kissed her"_ he stopped, with a small grin, remembering the last kiss on her trailer and sighed "_like everything just faded away and the world belonged to only both of you?"_ he finished, but his best friend noticed that Darren's eyes were a bit misty.

He placed his hands on Darren's shoulders, trying to comfort him. "_D, man, I can't stand you acting like this. And, uh, I could not say I have felt like that before"_ which made both of them laugh, "_but you need to let her go"_ Darren closed his eyes at the thought "_she doesn't want to go through this."_Joey stood up and Darren joined him. Joe gave him a big hug and padded him on the back. "_You know what you need? A guy's night out,"_ Darren opened his mouth to decline but his friend interrupted "_No. You are NOT going to stay here and mope."_ He started pushing Darren towards the bathroom and said "_just go, get ready and meet me up in the living room in 10."_ Darren just laughed and went into the shower, trying to wash away the frustration.

…_**AND ANOTHER OPENS**_

She hadn't seen him in weeks, mostly because there weren't any Dalton related scenes to shoot. But that didn't stop her from worrying about how she approached the whole "one nighter" situation. She was used to have amicable ends to relationships (well, except with Alex,) _except that this wasn't even a relationship_, she thought. Ever since she slept with him Dianna had a hard time thinking straight, but everyone she talked to (Lea, Naya and even Chris) agreed he overreacted a bit and that "_he will be fine in a matter of days."_ But, as much comfort she got, she still thought she had wrecked the guy. Darren was usually that funny, cute, smart and talented (_where did cute come from?)_ and she knew he deserved something stable, someone who would take him and give him what he wanted, (_that girl would be very lucky indeed)_ but she was certain she had burst his bubble. _Wait, why am I worrying about him?_ She thought and shook these thoughts away and went back to reading this week's new script.

This week was not that hectic as usual, they were filming the Prom scenes on the gym and she was going to be all dressed up during filming, which was a huge plus for her. Right now, both of them were in the bathroom filming the slapping scene, which was very hard for both; usually Lea will laugh after Dianna apologized every time she slapped her asking "_was that too hard? I'm so sorry Lea, really. Are you ok?"_ Just after nailing one of the takes and the director asking for just one more she spotted Darren standing next to Chris, waiting for their turn to shoot. He wasn't looking at her but was very busy texting in his phone and laughing at whatever he was seeing. He was wearing a black suit with a skinny tie: "_he looks so good"_ she thought. "_Stop staring, people will talk Di"_ Lea whispered in her ear, bringing her back to earth. "_Looking at what? I'm just trying to concentrate on the sce…"_ Lea interrupted her "_sure, the SCENE. Now, come on, focus all you sexual tension on the slap."_ Dianna nodded, still staring at him and went back to her friend; the director yelled _ACTION _and she went back to Quinn mode in a matter of seconds.

Gladly, they finished shooting the scene in a matter of minutes and Dianna decided to cool off and got some water. Walking from set and to the craft services table she couldn't stop thinking about how good he looked in that suit. She took her water bottle and headed back to set; as she walked there she kept playing with the bottle's cap and tried to look for him: _Lea was right_ she thought _people will start to notice; I need to play it cool. _She took a big gulp of water and headed straight to the gym to film some dancing scenes, she wasn't aware what they were filming so she stood back next to Cory and waited for their cue. "_Ok, right now we're gonna go straight into the performance part and I'll let you know when to come in"_ Dianna heard the director say to everyone and sat back in her chair. Just before they yelled action she saw Darren stand on the stage, next to Jenna and Heather, getting ready to sing. The music was cued up and after the director yelled "_action!"_ Darren grabbed the microphone stand and started singing.

The energy he brought to the set was amazing but this was beside everything she had seen before. He jumped from one side of the stage to the other, dancing with the girls, belting the notes just right and, Dianna had to notice, looking so damn fine. She was gasping for air the whole time; while he was up there she got a flash back of that one night so many weeks ago, the way he held the microphone stand reminded her of his hands all over her, caressing her but gentle and firm and holding her in the precise places. That's when it all hit her: she had been mistaken after all, she needed Darren. And now, she had to plan the right way to get him back. 


	7. Morgan

It's been over 4 weeks and Darren has been looking incredibly chipper and optimistic, more than usual, actually. Dianna hadn't been able to pin point what made Darren happy but she couldn't complain, she loved watching his big bright eyes whenever he sings a song or his warm smile whenever he had a scene. "Whatever is keeping him this happy, I hope it's worth it" she thought to herself, as she sat on her usual chair while watching Darren perform.

Once the day was done, Dianna decided to talk to Darren, maybe ask him out for a drink, dinner or whatever she could come up with on the spot. She finished putting her makeup and fixed her dress before heading out of her trailer; she headed out and closed the door behind her, lucky enough, she saw Darren in the distance talking excitedly with Chord. She was closing in on them and she took several deep breaths, thinking about how she would approach them, well, _Darren_ to be exact. Just several paces before reaching Darren and touching him by his shoulder, a short red headed girl approached Darren and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Dianna was completely taken a back and gasped audibly, which made Chord, Darren and the new girl turn around to face her.

She stared directly at the girl, who was now holding Darren by his waist and tried to regain sense, trying to get the rage to leave her stunned face. She coughed a little before she asked "So, Darren? Aren't you going to…" she hesitated for a second and stared directly at him "introduce us?" Darren could sense a tinge of jealousy coming from Dianna and he looked down, guiltily "Ah, yeah. Dianna, Chord this is" and the girl released him to extend a hand towards Dianna "Morgan, it's SO nice to meet you," Dianna looked at her and decided to shake her hand, adding a tough grip to her soft hands. She faked her best and brightest smile "It's nice to meet you, Morgan, is it?" she let go of the girl's grip. The blonde took a step back and smiled, never leaving her sight from Darren "Well, it's nice to meet you, Morgan" she said, she nodded towards Chord and gave him a peck on the cheek, she walked up to Darren and leaned in for a kiss on the cheek as well, she took advantage of the moment and whispered in his ear "after me, who would have thought you'd lower your standards, Mr. Criss." She gave him a smile and cocked up an eyebrow as she stepped back and padded his shoulder and walked off.

She climbed to the front seat of her car and closed the door harshly. She wasn't able to process the fact that Darren quickly moved on from her after he poured out his heart to her on the trailer. She was angry; her hands were shaking as she tried to get her car keys out of her purse but managed to drop them into the floor of the car. She cursed loudly and hit the steering wheel with both her hands. She didn't notice the point when tears poured from her face; she wasn't aware she would ache after Darren this way; she was the one that had pushed him off the first time around and it pained her to know it was all her fault, she drove him away from her.

Just a couple of minutes afterwards she got startled when she heard a knock on the window of her car. She cleaned up her face as well as she could and turned around to see Chord leaning out the window, motioning her to roll it down. She faked a smile and opened the window "Chord, hey. What's up?" He leaned against the door and asked "You left so quickly. Are, are you ok, Di?" She tried to smile harder but the anger was trying to overcome her again "I'm alright, Chord, dear. It's just" she took a deep breath "it's been a long day, you know?" She laughed softly and Chord joined her; he reached inside and padded her shoulder in comfort "If you need anything, you know" she cut him off "Chord, I am fine, really. I just" she motioned to her car. He raised an eyebrow, clearly concerned of her and stepped back and said "just, call me if you need anything, alright?" She closed her window and nodded at the gesture and managed to grab the keys of her car and started it. She waved him goodbye and started driving back to her apartment. She needed to clear her head: maybe cry a little, drink a whole bottle of wine or just sleep. "Anything but Darren" she thought to herself.

Darren hadn't planned anything to happen after the whole debacle in Dianna's trailer, but Joey's pushy ways, insisting him to go out for drinks and clear his mind, had helped him meet Morgan. He was leaning against the bar while drinking a beer, every few seconds staring down at the bottle, like trying to come up with any answer to his problems within it; Joey was standing on his right and talking to the Bartender about the latest Michigan U football game, but Darren didn't have it in him to look up and chat about his old alma mater. A few minutes and a few beers passed by, the sports bar filling up with every passing second and he felt the crowd push in on him; he decided to order a glass of scotch and turned around to the bartender to ask for one. He waited patiently for the glass as he tapped his fingers against the counter, once he got it he turned around as carefully as he could; he leaned his back against his spot and took a sip of the drink, making him cringe; just a couple of seconds later someone bumped into him, making him spill his drink all over the floor. He cursed under his breath and turned around to ask for a refill, when the culprit grabbed him by his elbow and said "I'm sorry. There are too many people here, I can barely move." Darren looked at the girl and she smiled at him "wait, I think I've seen you somewhere" she pointed at him, "aren't you on that…" Darren cut her off, looking at the floor for a second and gave her a little smile "you might have me confused with Burt Reynolds," this made the girl laugh and extended her hand to him "My name is Morgan. So, Mr. Reynolds, how about I get you a new drink since yours is all over the floor now" she continued as she motioned toward the bartender; Darren took her hand and shook it, giving him a nice smile, happy with the change of pace.

Darren and Morgan had spent all the night talking about trivial stuff: recent and old movies, books and music; he noticed she was a very smart girl, keeping up to any topic he threw at her. Just when they started comparing the second Star Wars trilogy to the first one, Joey took Darren by his shoulder and leaned to him "Dude, I know you are having fun, but we gotta go now," he finished as he pointed at his wrist watch. Darren nodded and turned back to his friend "just, give me a second here and I'll meet you outside." Joey saw Morgan look at him and gave him a small wave "Oh, I see" he said to his best friend "take your time, buddy" he nudged him in the ribs playfully as he headed out the main door of the bar. Darren put his drink in the counter and pointed Morgan towards the front door and she walked towards it, Darren following her shortly.

Once they were outside he looked at her and noticed that, without the dim lights fogging his sight, she was a very cute girl: short red hair, green eyes and cute freckles that ran from her shoulder to a flicker of them grazing her neck. "So" she cut off his train of thought "you have an early day at set tomorrow?" Darren squinted his eyes at her in suspicion and said "wait, how did you?" She laughed and pushed him playfully, "come on, I am an avid Harry Potter fan as well, how wouldn't I not know the famous Darren Criss," he blushed a bit, not used to the recognition from his Starkid days, since Glee apparently had been taking over his life. He smiled at her and said "come on, give me your phone" he took his hand out to her, "wow, I thought you might be earning enough to have a phone yourself" she said. He laughed a laugh he thought had died with Dianna just earlier that day. "Come on, cough it up" he waited and she took her iPhone from her purse and handed it to him, he started to quickly tap his number to her phone and returned it back to her. She took the phone and checked for whatever he had done, she laughed when she saw what he had saved his name under, Darren closed in to Morgan and said "If you ever feel bored or want to theorize more about George Lucas, feel free to call me" he finished as he gave her a slight kiss in the cheek. He started walking to his car, where Joey was patiently sitting down on the hood; he heard Morgan yell back "I'll make sure of it, Mr. Reynolds" and laughed, Darren turned around and waved back. He put his hands inside of his pockets and started walking to Joey, who snickered at him "I'm happy you are laughing again. Now" he pointed to the inside of the car "I'm tired, let's get me home so I can get my beauty sleep." Darren laughed with his best friend and got into the car and buckled up, still trying to gaze at the red headed girl who had managed to make him smile since, he didn't know when.

"Why would she ever react that way, she said she didn't want to be with me" Darren said, pacing from one side of the living room to another while Joey sat on the couch and watched him, clearly amused but still very worried. He sat straight and asked "you think this means she wants you now? Are you sure, Darren? Maybe she was kidding around," Darren stopped on his tracks and turned around "it didn't sound like a joke to me, man. " He ran his hands through his thick hair and sighed "She can't be doing this to me right now;" Joey stood up and faced his best friend, giving him a serious gaze "What are you going to do?" Darren looked down; kicking the air with his foot "I…" he took a deep breath but his train of thought suddenly got interrupted by his phone vibrating in the coffee table; he checked the phone and held it to his ear "Hey, sweetie. Sorry I couldn't spend the day" he rubbed his neck with his free hand "Yeah. I know" he started pacing again and every often replied with a "yes" or "sure." He finished the call and threw his phone on the couch, right next to Joey "so, was that?" he asked his best friend "Morgan, yeah" Darren replied "she wanted to know if I was ok. Fuck!" he cursed as he pressed the palms of his hands against his forehead "what the fuck am I going to do, Joe?" Joey laid back in the couch and stretched his legs to rest them in the coffee table "first of all, sit down cause you're starting to make a whole through the floor. Second, are you happy with Morgan?" he asked, as he looked straight into the shorter man's eyes, "Yeah, of course I am." Joey replied back "well, that is good then. Now" he took a deep breath "do you want to be with Dianna?" Darren was silent, at one point he wanted to have the blonde girl to his own, but then he realized he was being childish about the situation and, by some sort of luck, Morgan stumbled upon his life. He was able to be his goofy self with her, without worrying about the cameras and people hovering over him; but he will randomly think about Dianna, that last kiss he gave her did linger on him and, he had to face it, will linger for a while now.

If Dianna hadn't approached him today, he would have had a normal day with his girlfriend: they would watch and old movie in the couch and have a bottle of wine while they petted each other until they fell asleep. But Dianna had come to ruin his life, again. Her strawberries and crème scent, her blonde messy hair, her sultry voice as she got close to Darren and said "after me, who would have thought you'd lower your standards, Mr. Criss." But she was not going to break him again; he is in a good place right now, with Morgan. He answered Joey back, gritting his teeth "No. She had her chance."


End file.
